Well I’m going to assume that by now you have seen the reports in the news that coconut oil is terrible for you, and not the “magical’ food that it has been deemed.

Gosh, I don’t even know where to start with this, so I am going to try and do my best not to get too heated about it in this blog (key word try). 😉

So, first of all I just have to say that I am not a fan of creating fear around food.

I did this for many years in the efforts to be “healthy” when in turn I ended up un-knowingly developing my own form of disordered eating-not good.

I see this all the time with other women who feel totally justified in their actions by thinking that they are being healthy, when in fact they are completely unaware of the harmful/ un-healthy habits they are creating.

It’s taken me years to to get to the place where I am now, and I still have to check myself at times, but I no longer believe in punishing myself for enjoying any food.

Oh man, we are going to be diving into the often misguided area of CARBS today!!!

This topic is easily one of the most confusing and miss understood areas of nutrition for women. Why? because we have been told a hundred things under the sun about how we should be eating carbs- mainly that we shouldn’t be eating them!

And there in lies the issue at hand.

As women, our bodies produce and regulate hormones much differently then men, and that hormone regulation is very sensitive to fluctuations in our energy intake, aka food- including carbs.

Okay, so here’s something crazy…The American Thyroid Association reports that one in eight women in the United States experiences a thyroid disorder at some point in her lifetime, and for many it occurs during pregnancy and/or after menopause. (1, 2)

One in eight women!!

Not only are thyroid imbalances pretty common, but sadly most women are not even aware that they may be experiencing one.

So listen up ladies, because this could be you!

This could be the reason behind stubborn weight gain, fatigue, mood imbalances and more! It may not be the only cause behind these common issues, but it could be contributing, and if so, you’re gonna want to seek treatment.

Alright so I found myself in a position this last month or so where I just really felt stuck.

For me it was regarding which direction I wanted to go with my online coaching business, but for you it could be something completely different.

Regardless of the circumstances, what I think we can agree on is that at some point in time, most of us face the feelings of being stuck and sort of in this weird limbo, that ends up keeping us from moving forward.

So while I was talking with a girlfriend, in my efforts to prevent myself from being trapped in this space of stuck for too long, I remembered something that I had read awhile back that completely applied to this situation, and I couldn’t believe I had forgot it!

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to hear John C Maxwell (a well known speaker and author) speak at a leadership conference I attended.

I mean people pay thousands of dollars to hear this man speak and I was able to experience this myself as just part of the business conference I was there to attend. AMAZING!

So knowing that many of you may not get to have the same experience I wanted to dedicate this blog to sharing the insights that I gained from hearing Mr. Maxwell speak and what resonated the most with me.

Okay so I wanted to share with you one of my favorite smoothies, that helps aid in recovery, because the recovery process is where the magic happens my friend!

During our workouts we break down tissues and when we recover our body rebuilds them to be stronger, and better equipped to handle the exercise stress placed on them.

So if we can maximize our body’s ability to recover from our workouts, we are in turn maximizing our results.

So why not use/do everything we can to encourage a fast and effective recovery? Seems like a no brainer right?

But it’s easy to inhibit our recovery when we don’t get the proper nutrition, are under prolonged periods of stress, do too many high intensity workouts without resting enough between, or don’t get adequate amounts of sleep, among other things.

So today we are going to address the nutrition factor by looking at this recovery boosting smoothie that’s one of my staples!

I already know the answer to that is probably yes, because SO many women come to me with this issue.

Maybe the holiday’s already have you more discouraged, lost, and literally about to lose your mind trying to get rid of that stubborn 5-10 pounds, or even more?

It’s already tough enough to lose excess fat at various stages in life, and if you’re one of my postmenopausal ladies, I know it can feel utterly impossible. Then throwing in the holiday’s on top of it all is enough to make anyone want to cry!

Buuuttttt here’s the deal, it doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom over here no matter who you are, what your age, or what time of the year it is.

Oh yes, it’s that time of year…HOLIDAY SEASON!!!!! AHHHH it’s the best!

I love the holidays, especially Christmas, but I know it can be super tough to stick to our goals during this time of year.

Because I know the struggle is real when it comes to staying on track during the holidays, I wanted to share 5 of my favorite tips that have helped prevent me, and my clients throughout the years, from totally blowing it during this time.

We finally got our hands on our first Farm To Table Harvest Box a few months ago, and it rocked my world!

Mainly because I love supporting local farmers, but also because the farmer’s markets were we are, in North Carolina, are not very close, or quite up to par with those we had in San Diego.

I sort of got spoiled having one of the best farmer’s markets in SD and 3 health food stores walking distance from my house. I could seriously cry about it, that’s how bad I miss that, but whatever, who needs a farmer’s market and awesome grocery stores anyway, right? 🙁

As you may have figured out, I am all about cramming in as many nutrient dense ingredients in my green drinks as possible, because I’m a nutrient junkie!

But, you can easily pick and choose from the ingredients below to make a version that works for you, or take a look at my other green juice recipe and mix and match. Most of the key ingredients will be the same because these are detox focused drinks (and I include the BEST ingredients for detoxifying in these bad boys) so the flavor shouldn’t change too drastically from making a few changes- key word shouldn’t. 😉 Plus, you can always have some stevia extract on hand to sweeten things up (calorie free), or banana, raw honey, pineapple, mango or dates.

This is where the majority of your larger musculature is found (especially those glutes) and hence translates into the areas that you should be focusing on the most during workouts to up-regulate your metabolism and burn fat!

I practically mention this in every fitness related blog post but oh well, I’m saying it again.

Muscle tissue is highly metabolically active, meaning it uses a significant amount of calories to build and sustain itself so it’s one of your best methods for getting and staying lean, while achieving that “toned” look.

So let’s dive into 3 of my favorite “bang for your buck” moves to get this done.

This is a super simple and filling recipe that my husband and I both love.

You can scale it to fit your needs, but we like to make enough to have leftovers the next day for lunch, which I highly recommend. I pretty much do that with dinner as much as possible to keep thing easy, because I’m all about that!

The reason I’m making this crazy bold statement is the fact that green drinks are packed with phytochemicals (nutrients derived from plants) that improve digestion and immune support, eliminate toxins, prevent disease, and help improve hormone regulation, among other things.

But mainly because I have personally seen myself, friends, and clients, feel more energized and less bloated, reduce body fat, and sport an improved complexion as a result.

Oh man, it’s time for another bomb Crock-Pot recipe that is perfect for fall!

I freaking love my Crock-Pot, and the love just keeps on growin’! So I am trying to put together a solid collection of recipes that I’ve found that rock my world, so I can always have something yummy to throw together when I don’t have time to cook or recipe hunt.

This little chilli number is going to be among the ranks because chilli is one of my favorite things to make in the Crock-Pot, I love the curry twist on it, AND it uses squash… and yeah, I love squash. So this is a win win for me, and I hope you like it too!

You may not know this about me, but I love me some sweets, especially cupcakes and cookies!!!

I mean who doesn’t really, but what I love even more is being able to put a healthy spin on my favorite desserts so I can enjoy them without feeling like crap about it.

So I have gathered numerous recipes from healthy sources that I love, because I’ll be real, I am in no way a recipe inventor. I wish I was for sure, and I can make substitutions here and there, but I tend to just trust others that have the skills and put in the time to test it out, and so that means I get to do the same for you!

This is one of my go-to recipes for a healthier version of chocolate chip cookies that I’m pretty sure you’ll like, but who knows, you may hate it. So sorry if you do, but it works for me, so this is what you get. BOOM! 😉